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Boeing's 787-9 Dreamliner took off on its maiden voyage on Tuesday, September 17. The 787-9 is 20 feet longer than the 787-8 and holds 40 more passengers than the 787-8, which carries between 210 and 250 passengers.
Air New Zealand is the launch customer, and the airline will take delivery of the aircraft in mid-2014. Besides carrying more passengers, the new version of the Dreamliner also can carry more cargo and fly farther.
Boeing began final assembly of the first 787-9 Dreamliner on May 30 in Everett, Washington, when employees began joining large sections of the aircraft together.
The Dreamliner got off to a rough start. Just more than a year after the Boeing 787-8's first commercial flight, the aircraft was grounded after batteries overheated on two flights. Earlier this year, this All Nippon Airways 787 made an emergency landing because of battery troubles. Aviation safety regulators have approved Boeing's battery fixes, and Dreamliners have started to fly again.
A LOT Polish Airlines 787, with a redesigned lithium-ion battery system, performs a test flight in March at Paine Field in Everett, Washington. The Dreamliner's distinctive wings sweep back at 32 degrees.
The use of composite materials on the Dreamliner makes larger window cutouts possible. Composites have replaced aluminum as the predominant material in the 787. The 777 is made up of 50% aluminum and 12% composites, compared with the Dreamliner's nearly 50% makeup of composites and just 20% aluminum.
Pilots training to fly the Boeing Dreamliner will train on one of two 787 full-flight simulators, like the one shown here, at the company's training center in Miami. Capt. Gary Lee Beard is shown demonstrating one of the simulators on August 29 in Miami.
Air India's Dreamliner got a water cannon salute as Australia's first Dreamliner passenger flight landed in Sydney on August 30.
NEW: Boeing's Dreamliner 787-9 lands after after 5-plus-hour test flight
The Dreamliner 787-9 holds 40 more passengers than the earlier 787
Air New Zealand will receive the first 787-9 in mid-2014
(CNN) -- The latest incarnation of Boeing's Dreamliner took finished its maiden flight Tuesday afternoon, completing a test run of more than five hours.
A larger version of the 787-8, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is 206 feet long -- 20 feet longer than its predecessor -- and holds 40 more passengers. (The 787-8 can hold 210-250 passengers.)
Its range is also greater, at 8,000-8,500 nautical miles, versus the 787-8's range of 7,650-8,200 nautical miles. Like the 787-8, the new plane uses 20% less fuel and has 20% fewer emissions than other planes its size.
Watch it online
June: Boeing launches new Dreamliner
Boeing provided live coverage via webcast prior to the aircraft's 11 a.m. PT (1 p.m. EDT) takeoff from Boeing's Payne Field in Everett, Washington. It landed at 4:20 p.m.
The two pilots, Capt. Mike Bryan and Capt. Randy Neville, were expected to speak afterward at a news conference, also to be carried on the webcast.
"This is a beautiful machine," said Ray Conner, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, speaking on the webcast shortly after takeoff. "It's going to be the backbone of the 787 fleet."
Pre-debut
The latest Dreamliner rolled out of the factory in Everett, Washington, in late August, and it is scheduled to be delivered to its first customer, Air New Zealand, in mid-2014.
World's largest airliner: Is bigger better?
This year, Boeing has had more than 82 orders to date for the 787, with the largest order of 42 planes coming from American Airlines. Singapore Airlines has the second largest order for 787s with 30 planes ordered.
Approximately 40% of all 787 orders to date (not just this year) are for the 787-9.
The announcement is one of the few celebratory moments for the company in recent months.
The four-month global grounding of the entire Dreamliner fleet, after an ANA flight was diverted following a battery fire in January, was the first such global grounding in 30 years.
To get the plane back in the sky, a team made up of experts from Boeing and from outside the company redesigned the system so battery cells would be separated and insulated. The new system also was designed to ventilate outside the plane any smoke that would come from overheating batteries.
The grounding was lifted at the end of April.
Since the dramatic ANA incident, Dreamliner's list of problems has gone on to include a United Airlines emergency landing in Houston caused by brake problems and a fire started by an emergency locator beacon on an Ethiopian Airlines 787 at Heathrow Airport. United flights were diverted as a precaution last summer due to a faulty fuel pump indicator and an oil level indicator.
As well as being lighter and more fuel efficient than similar aircraft, the Dreamliner's in-cabin experience is also different.
It has bigger windows that can be dimmed (out go the pull-down shutters), LED mood lighting and is pressurized at 6,000 feet rather than 8,000 feet, making air sickness less likely.
Another new airplane
The 787-9 won't be the final iteration of the 787 aircraft. In June, Boeing announced the launch of the 787-10 Dreamliner. Final assembly and flight tests are scheduled to begin in 2017, with first delivery tentatively scheduled in 2018. The company said the 787-10 will fly up to 7,000 nautical miles and have seating for 300-330 passengers.
CNN's Thom Patterson contributed to this story.
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Latest Boeing Dreamliner takes off
